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Lt. Colonel<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em>William L. Turner</em>, known as “Billy” to his friends, was killed in action in France, the day after D-Day, while in service with the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. He commanded the First Battalion of that regiment.</p>
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Born June 18, 1916, in Sparta, Georgia, the son of Dr. and Mrs. Dennis T. Turner, Billy moved at an early age to Milledgeville, Ga., where he grew up and attended Georgia Military College before entering the Military Academy.</p>
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Billy, who was a member of F Co. at the Military Academy, was always remembered by his classmates as a Georgia boy who never lost his drawl through his years at the Point and in the Army afterwards.</p>
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After his graduation, Billy reported to Van De Graf Field, Alabama, for flight training. After a short while at this, he was assigned to the Cavalry and reported to the Fifth Cavalry at Ft. Bliss and later at Ft. Clark, Texas. Following this duty he was with the 10th Cavalry at Ft. Riley, Kansas.</p>
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In December of 1941, Billy transferred to the Armored Force and was sent to Pine Camp, New York, for duty with the Fourth Armored Division, where he remained until April, at which time he was transferred to Ft. Knox, Ky., and the Eighth Armored Division.</p>
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In July of 1942, Billy transferred to the paratroops, and was sent to Camp Toccoa, Ga., where he was one of the first officers to report to the newly formed 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, with which regiment he remained until his death. While with the 506th, Billy was stationed at Ft. Benning, Camp Mackall, N. C., and Fort Bragg.</p>
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At Toccoa Billy reported as a Captain and was assigned to the Regimental S-3 Section. He approached his job with enthusiasm, but with the reservation that he wanted command duty, whatever it was. He was soon given the First Battalion, which he trained from then until D-Day. He qualified as a parachutist at Toccoa on a most difficult and improvised jump field.</p>
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The 506th left for England in August of 1943, where it remained until the invasion.</p>
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Billy was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his action in France, which is described in the following letter from one of his company commanders:</p>
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“We dropped in France about 1:30 a.m., on D-Day. The enemy was thick below, and they put up heavy fire at the planes and at us as we descended. I was not in the same plane with Billy, and we were separated by strong enemy action throughout the hours of darkness. Shortly after daylight I arrived at the command post, and I learned that Billy and a group of 40 men had set out to accomplish a battalion mission. They had gone to an extremely important enemy strong-point which had to be knocked out before the seaborne troops arrived. Billy’s group and groups from other units accomplished this mission.</p>
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“Bill and his group returned to the command post about 5 p.m., and the battalion was assembled as a tactical unit. The Third Battalion had not been heard from, and the Second was only partly assembled. The beach landing troops had made contact and had suffered unbelievably few casualties as a result of the action of Bill’s group and the others who went down to the beach early that morning.</p>
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“At two o’clock the next morning we were ordered to attack Vierville by daylight. We moved out In normal formation, but when the leading elements were stopped by enemy fire, Billy made his way forward, personally to direct the attack. We took Vierville with the loss of only two wounded. We learned we’d driven out a strong force of German paratroopers, and had cut off one battalion. Later we repulsed a counter attack, and shortly thereafter General Taylor ordered Billy to continue the attack south to St. Come du Mont. We moved out, and the Second Battalion came into town and took over the 350 prisoners we had captured.</p>
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“Again Billy made his way forward whenever the leading elements were stopped by enemy fire, and personally directed the attack. By noon we reached a cross roads shown on the map as Beaumont. Here the enemy held strong defensive positions. Six tanks were attached and after heavy fighting, Billy reorganized the battalion to continue the attack south. All of this time our group was spearheading the spearhead.</p>
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“There were strong enemy forces at the left, right, and in front—a numerically superior enemy occupying excellently prepared defensive positions. We would never have reached this point had not Billy gone forward time after time to direct the attack and encourage the men by his fearless example. It is incredible that a unit so small as ours could drive so deeply into the heart of the enemy defenses.</p>
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“We left the crossroads still under fire from both flanks. We had gone 800 yards when we came under heavy machine gun and machine pistol fire. Our companies were held up. Billy then entered the lead tank and it moved around a bend in the road. It was hit by an enemy weapon, but was not knocked out. The tank responded for several minutes with heavy machine gun and cannon fire, then backed up around the bend. Billy dismounted and got an artillery radio. He sent me back to find out what had happened to our company on the right. While I was gone, Billy re-entered the tank and it moved forward again, where he observed the target and called for artillery fire. Each time he got in and out of the tank he was exposed to machine gun fire, because it was on the open road and he had to climb on top of the tank to get inside it. Due to his observation and direction of artillery fire, an extremely heavily defended enemy position was reduced.</p>
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“While directing the artillery, he observed a wounded sergeant lying in the ditch. Billy called for Lieut. O. E. Wilson, a Georgia boy from Thomaston. Then he turned to issue instructions to the tank driver and was shot by a sniper. Death was instantaneous.</p>
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“Later that day we pushed on and we saw the damage that the artillery, which he had called for and adjusted, had done. Germans, equipment, guns, horses and the debris of a once strong position were everywhere in evidence.”</p>
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Besides his parents, Billy is survived by his wife, the former Miss Marjorie Jackson of Little Rock, Ark., whom he married in December of 1941; a brother, Rozier Turner, a former lieutenant of the Engineer Amphibious Corps; and a sister, Mrs. John P. Thornton. One other brother, Lt. Dennis T. Turner, Jr., of the 28th Infantry Regiment was killed in France on July 12, 1944.</p>
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Major General Taylor, Division Commander, states:</p>
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“There was a striking contradiction between the slow Southern speech of Colonel Turner and his brisk energy on the battle field. After observing him in handling his Battalion during the training period in England, I formed the opinion that he was a fine officer of upstanding character but possibly a little too gentle in his exercise of command. The latter impression changed rapidly in those critical early days in Normandy when he led his men with the utmost vigor and effectiveness until the fatal action in which he lost his life.</p>
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“Although he never lost his quietness, he had the gift of doing the right thing with determination but without excitement. It was this characteristic that gained the trust and respect of subordinates and superiors alike.</p>
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“It was with great sorrow that I learned of his death in the sharp fighting about St. Come du Mont on June 7th. The Army lost a young officer of the greatest promise through his untimely death”.</p>
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His Regimental Commander says of Billy:</p>
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“From the day of his reporting to duty at Toccoa until his untimely death on 7 June, Bill Turner fulfilled his role as soldier. He trained his battalion with a singleness of purpose, preparation for combat, with devotion and conscientiousness. His stature was small, his heart was big, his head was clear, his mind was sharp and his courage unlimited. His battalion reflected his fighting spirit and tenacity of purpose”.</p>
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In the words of an officer of Billy’s Battalion:</p>
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“I never knew a person so sincere and so completely devoted to duty. He molded a battalion and won the respect and admiration of every man in lt. In combat we did not let him down”.</p>